Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Diversity and Inclusion

That's the title of the video we had to watch this week at work. It was a reminder that people are different and no one should be excluded or singled out for any reason. Of course, it focused on physical traits.

In my yard, Rudbeckia comes in many shades and colors. I like them all.

From Thompson and Morgan, we have the new 'Cherry Brandy' Rudbeckia. The claim was it would be red. This is more like the color of dried blood. I'm not thrilled.

On the other end of the spectrum, there's the plain old boring yellow and brown.

In between, there's lots of variety.

And finally, Rudbeckia fulgida. This is a perennial variety. I haven't successfully grown this from seed yet. I collected seed last year mixing it with other "Black Eyed Susan" seed from lots of sources. What I got was Rudbeckia hirta. Perhaps my seed was not ripe when collected. Or maybe what I've read is true, it reverts to hirta from seed. In any case, it blooms late summer to early fall when all the other rudbeckias are busy dying.

WeatherUnderground is forecasting a 20% chance of thunderstorms this evening. Weather.com is forecasting high winds and increased chance of fire. I'm hoping for the rain instead. It's 66 degrees and sunny. A great morning to be outside, coffee in hand, planning next years garden.